Anthony (Tony) Keslinke grew up in the Chicago, IL area. He attended the Illinois Institute of Technology and earned a BS in Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering.

After completing his undergraduate study, Tony graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BS in Materials Science while working as a research assistant at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and as a teaching assistant at the University of California at Berkeley.

Upon graduation from Berkeley, he combined his interest in entrepreneurship with his engineering training on a variety of projects. These projects ultimately led to the founding of a medical device manufacturing company that created made-in-America products and provided scores of well-paying jobs. Ultimately, Tony was a co-inventor, and received a U.S. Patent, of a novel intraocular lens material designed to restore sight to the blind and visually impaired. The company was also active in a host of other areas such as reproductive dysfunction and reconstructive surgery.

He to embark on a real estate development career that has spanned more than 30 years. During this time he has developed expertise in the areas of property management and construction as well as land, residential, multifamily and commercial property development. Since 1989, he has participated in hundreds of successful transactions and worked in all aspects of the real estate process bringing redevelopment to socioeconomically challenge areas. His practice to “reposition” previously blighted properties has resulted in more than $40,000,000 in value being added back to local economies and has resulted in employment opportunities for hundreds of local community members.

In addition, Tony’s dedication to local neighborhoods has resulted in a variety of different community benefits. These benefits include restoring a defaulted and defunct Residential Care Home for The Elderly providing homes for hundreds of seniors and dozens of local jobs. He has also remodeled and restored historically significant buildings to productive use in some of the most important and impactful core areas of struggling communities. These projects have resulted in local revitalization that has ignited additional development and created massive change. He was also the first mover developer in a new master planned community that resulted in expanding the borders of Vacaville, CA by annexing additional land to the city which provided critically needed housing and resulted in more than 2000 new homes being added to the local housing supply.

Tony considers himself extremely fortunate because his business activities have allowed him the opportunity to share his experience with new entrepreneurs and offer them the opportunity to pursue their own professional dreams. He has mentored and incubated many businesses, some of which have gone on to become vibrant community assets while their business owners have become leaders in their local communities.

Besides his business activities, Mr. Keslinke has also been active in philanthropic pursuits.

In addition to his private development efforts, he has extensively worked with local non-profits advocating and assisting at-risk populations including individuals and families victimized by domestic violence, sex trafficking, and homelessness. He established a private foundation, the Kids at Risk Foundation (KAR), in 2016 to assist society’s most vulnerable populations. KAR advocates, and provides resources such as education and housing opportunities, for these at-risk populations and then leverages its activities by partnering with other front-line community organizations. These efforts have been recognized for their contribution to the local residents and communities by both local and national news organizations such as KRON TV and the New York Times.

He also has studied and completed Vocational Training (VT) Horticulture courses and has organized and presented introduction to organic farming courses in conjunction with John Hockett, an agronomist (soil scientist) with 5 decades of practical farming and horticulture research experience.

Tony looks forward to using his proven ability of developing and completing challenging projects and applying these skills in new and exciting ways. Toward this end and to better equip himself to tackle these challenges, he is currently enrolled in the Sustainability and Environmental Management course offered through Harvard University’s Extension School while working toward a graduate degree in the Sustainability department.

Leveraging his expertise, he is now employing sustainable development methods to develop private projects that benefit all stake-holders including the local community, tenants, employees and the environment. His focus is to assist stimulating economic growth in historically underperforming areas such as some rural and Native American populations. By employing state-of-the-art methods and using emerging technologies, such as solar and water purification, new and exciting solutions can be provided to this long neglected segment of society.

When Tony is not working, he enjoys recreating with his family, tending to his garden, skiing, playing golf, and recently, working on his newly acquired pickleball skills. Or, you might catch him at his Monday night Bayside Church Men’s Group, Series 33.